by Calculated Risk on 9/09/2007 11:19:00 PM

DataQuick will report SoCal home sales in about a week (NAR reports U.S. August existing home sales on Sept 25th), but the following story in the LA Business Journal suggests sales fell off a cliff: August Home Sales Take a Major Plunge

The expanding mortgage crisis and credit crunch slammed the Los Angeles housing market in August, with home sales plunging 50 percent from the same month last year and 25 percent from July.

Sales of new and existing homes in Los Angeles County slid to 4,107 units in August, just under half the 8,246 units that sold in August 2006 and well below July’s 5,458 units, according to figures compiled for the Business Journal by Melville, N.Y.-based HomeData Corp.

Usually existing home sales increase from July to August, so this is even worse than it sounds.